How to Be a Cowboy

by Jim Arndt

Overview

Explore every facet of being a cowboy with essays and colorful photos in this guide from the author of Buckaroo Boots and Art of the Buckle.

How to be a Cowboy is a compendium of knowledge and insight, wit and wisdom, and all-around resource for every aspect of cowboy life. It includes the least you need to know about ranching, rodeoing, cooking, music, dancing, yodeling, lingo (like “dude,” “bronc,” and “hoss”), cowboy poetry, hats, boots (like boot history and how to choose a pair for yourself), spurs, shirts, horses, hats, buckles, denim, and also how to walk like a cowboy. Discover the top twenty cowboy movies and top western novels. You’ll even find advice from cowboy icon Will Rogers.

“It’s the rich color camerawork that really compels, and Arndt’s classy shots of elaborately designed boots, shirts, blue jeans and hats, plus peripheral cowboy gear, are enough to make a guy chuck the 9-to-5 and head out to the wild, wild West.”—Martin Brady, BookPage

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423612742
Publisher:	Smith, Gibbs Publisher
Publication date:	05/29/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jim Arndt is the author of How to Be a Cowboy and coauthor with Mary Emmerling of Art of the Cross, Art of Turquoise, Art of the Skull and Art of the Heart. He coauthored several Cowboy Boot books. He lives in Santa Fe.

Read an Excerpt

COWBOY LINGO

Just like any other group, cowboys have their own special language. If you hang around the bunkhouse, the rodeo, or anyplace else cowboys gather, you may hear some of these words being used. See how often you can use them while talking to your pards.

BOOT HILL cemetery

DUDE city slicker

BROKE that a horse is gentle and ready to ride

HAND a ranch worker

BRONC an unbroken horse, or a horse that, though broke, is still a bit wild

HIGHTAIL to run off or get away fast

HOSS horse

BUCKAROO cowboy (from the Spanish word vaquero)

HUNG OFF a foot caught in the stirrup of the saddle

BUNKHOUSE living quarters for the cowboys working on a ranch

MAVERICK a stray, unbranded calf

MUSTANG wild horse

OUTFIT a ranch worker's or a cowboy's pickup truck

CATCH PEN a corral for holding cattle or horses

PARD partner, friend

RIDE THE LINE check the fences to fix any that are broken

RIG saddle

CORRAL fenced off area for livestock

SPREAD a ranch

COWBOY UP mount up and ride out, or grin and bear it

STOVE UP hurt, injured, or crippled cowboy

CRITTER cow or other animal

TRY effort ("Bill has a lot of try in him.")

CROW HOP a mini-buck; the horse rounds its back and hops

WRANGLER the cowboy who takes care of the horses

DOGIE an orphaned calf

DRAW a lottery that matches riders and animals at rodeo events

WRECK a riding accident

Table of Contents

The Cowboy Code

Texas Bix Bender 13

Lesson One: Boot Camp 15

Lesson Two: The Shirt 53

The Cowboy Way 80

Favorite Sayings by Texas Bix Bender 82

Cowboy Lingo by Lawson Drinkard 93

Gene Autry's Cowboy Code 96

Roy Rogers' Riders Club Rules 97

"A Cowboy's Prayer" by Badger Clark 98

Top 20 Cowboy Movies 100

Cowboy Poetry 102

Top Western Novels 104

Cowboy Wave 108

Lesson Three: Denim & Duds 111

Lesson Four: The Hat 127

Lesson Five: The Spur 141

Lesson Six: The Rodeo 159

Lesson Seven: The Ranch 173

Lesson Eight: The Music 189

Lesson Nine: The Buckle 201

Advice from Will Rogers 210

A Cowboy's Blessing 223

Editorial Reviews

It''s the rich color camerawork that really compels, and Arndt''s classy shots of elaborately designed boots, shirts, blue jeans and hats, plus peripheral cowboy gear, are enough to make a guy chuck the 9-to-5 and head out to the wild, wild West."

From the Publisher

"It's the rich color camerawork that really compels, and Arndt's classy shots of elaborately designed boots, shirts, blue jeans and hats, plus peripheral cowboy gear, are enough to make a guy chuck the 9-to-5 and head out to the wild, wild West."

BookPage - Martin Brady

"It's the rich color camerawork that really compels, and Arndt's classy shots of elaborately designed boots, shirts, blue jeans and hats, plus peripheral cowboy gear, are enough to make a guy chuck the 9-to-5 and head out to the wild, wild West."

— Martin Brady

BookPage